Peter Hajek, Katie Myers Smith and Hayden McRobbie
Presenter(s)
Katie Myers Smith Research Fellow, Queen Mary, University of London
Abstract
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and varenicline are both effective in helping smokers quit. There is growing interest in combining the two treatments to improve treatment outcomes, but no experimental data exist on whether this is efficacious. This double-blind randomised controlled trial was designed to evaluate whether adding nicotine patches to varenicline improves withdrawal relief and short-term abstinence rates.
A hundred and seventeen participants seeking help to stop smoking were randomly allocated to varenicline plus placebo patch or varenicline plus nicotine patch (15mg/16 hour). Ratings of urges to smoke and cigarette withdrawal symptoms were collected weekly over 4 weeks post-TQD. The presentation will describe the results of this much anticipated randomised controlled trial.
